The Magic of Friendship
by MsAngelAdorer
Summary: All they expected was a normal school year, but that just wouldn't happen as witches began to target them and the mystery of one's past suddenly began to come up. Follow their journey as the magic of their friendship brought them together. ON HOLD
1. Prologue

_Okay, I know that I have stories that I still need to update, but I've wanted to try this out for a while now, and since I have acquired some first season DVDs, I thought that now was the perfect opportunity to start writing it._

_Now, this may not be seen as the most creative story idea, but I thought it was necessary. This story takes place during Winx Club Season 1, and I thought that this season had a lot of things that were off, needed more explaining, or just plain were completely not needed. So, in this fic, you'll see how I think that the first season should've went. So yes, it has the same storyline, but I'm cutting out or adding quite a few things that I felt were and weren't important to the season. So this is mostly from the girls' point of view, but sometimes you'll hear it from Ms. Faragonda's, the guys', or the witches' if it's necessary to make the story make more sense. _

_Just as a note, I **primarily **follow the 4kids episodes, but since 4kids screwed over some of the episode formats, I may either change it myself, or use what was in the Rai version. Also, I hated the whole name-swap with Brandon and Sky, and it made Bloom get embarrassed in episode 17, and when I first watched it, I was horrified. Bloom was and still is one of my favorite characters, so I thought that that should've been avoided, but that's just my opinion. So in this fic, Brandon and Sky were known by their correct names. _

_This story, I've decided, will have 28 chapters: Prologue and epilogue; 26 chapters based on the episodes themselves, but how I thought they should've went, so if you're not into that, this may not be the story for you. _

_And, if you're still reading, this prologue is only from Stella's point of view so we can get more insight on what she felt as she ended up on Earth and battling Knut. I know that it's really short, but don't worry, the actual chapters will be much longer in comparison. I hope to have the first real chapter out in a week, after typing it and revising and proofreading. _

_And, to conclude, let's not forget: **I don't own Winx Club. **_

* * *

_**Prologue**_

The great sun shone as it always had, and always would, on the beautiful day that all the people knew was ahead of them. The birds chirped and the blue sky emerged from the clouds, signaling a beautiful beginning to another wonderful Solarian day.

The kingdom of the planet Solaria was often known mostly by its eternal sun, or it's 'second sun', but what the people itself treasured the most was the realm's inhabitants of plant and wildlife, as well as the luxury of no rain, snow, or any other type of sky precipitation.

Most people from other realms would wonder, "How could the plants live without rain?" The answer to that is simple. The realm of Tides(the planet of water) provides a trading service with Solaria, and they use this special water to irrigate the crops and other plants with. **(1)**

But, even this wasn't the only view people of Solaria had. The royal family had their own opinions, and the most unique were often known by the princess herself, seventeen-year-old, Princess Stella.

The young girl was not what she would call, "the most experienced" person of her realm, but she did know how things went on, though it wasn't always the most accurate from her favorite realm-wide gossip and whatnot. But, that was what made her father proud of her. After the news she'd received that summer, she didn't like to think of her mother much at the moment.

It was a new school year for the princess, and she was to once again attend her high school, Alfea School for Fairies. It was a beautiful all-girls private school that hailed in the realm of Magix and specialized in teaching young fairies the best magical education that could be offered.

Sadly, Stella had to remind herself that there wasn't much to look forward to at the moment because of last year's… "accident" as she liked to call it. When she did let herself think of it, Stella all to well remembered how on a dare from one of her roommates in Potions class, she'd tried to create a new shade of the color pink. Instead, her spell backfired and she ended up destroying the entire lab. She remembered when her professor had sent her to Ms. Faragonda's office. Once there, she'd received a stern lecture.

"Stella," she'd reminded her, "now I care for my students greatly, you included, but I'm afraid it's unacceptable, just as you know, to use magic unsupervised. This counts more when used in such a careless way."

"But Ms. Faragonda!" the blonde princess argued. "I didn't use it in a careless way. I was just helping out my friend, Alexis. She needed a new shade of pink to make her dress match, and I tried to do that, but then I did the spell wrong and ended up…"

"Destroying the potions lab," the headmistress finished for her, clearly not amused. "I know. We all know. Now, I'm not much of a punishment giver. Griselda?" she asked, turning to the middle-aged woman, Ms. Griselda, vice-headmistress and head of discipline. "Do you think that you could assign Ms. Stella an appropriate punishment for her behavior?"

Ms. Griselda nodded, adjusting the blue glasses that she wore and adjusted them whenever she was mad, upset, or put off by a students behavior; in some cases, she did this as well as giving a mighty glare at the girl and a scoff.

"Well _Princess Stella_," the vice-headmistress said, accenting Stella's name in a foul way. This told Stella that she really was not in a good mood at this time. "Considering how this lab will cost school damages, you potentially could've harmed other students, you've missed curfew many times, and your grades have yet to go above a sub par level, I'm afraid to say that I think it's only necessary we expel you from Alfea."

"_What?_" Stella couldn't believe her ears. Expelled? She knew that she wasn't doing the best at this school, but she'd never even considered her behavior bad enough to get kicked out for. What would her parents think?

"Ms. F, Ms. G," Stella said, addressing the professors by their last initials. "Please. Give me another chance. I'll have my father pay for the damages, and I promise I'll get a tutor and bring my grades up. If necessary, I'll serve detention all you want, just please, please, _pretty please _don't expel me."

"I'm sorry, Stella, but it has been decided," Ms. Faragonda cut her off sternly. "Now go to your dorm room and pack your things. I will arrange for one of your family's ships to take you back home immediately."

After that, Stella thought it was over, yet her father had come through for her, just when she'd needed him. He had convinced the school board that she had good potential, and that if they gave her another chance, they would be surprised. And just to make sure that they wouldn't refuse, he and his wife had paid the damages and donated a new school computer lab to the upper wing. After some consideration, they agreed to this proposal and Stella was let back in, but since her grades were still not good enough, there was a condition: she had to retake her freshman year.

When she had first heard, Stella hadn't cared at all. Her father had sat her down to talk with him during the summer. "Stella," he told her, "they've agreed to let you back in, but you have to take your old year again."

"Oh, it's okay Dad!" she'd smiled, embracing him so hard, he could've squeezed in two and it wouldn't have surprised her. "As long as I can go back, it's perfectly fine with me."

"Good." But, then he became more serious. "Now Stella, it took quite a bit for the school board to give you this second chance, and they told me that you're still on thin ice. So, this year, I want you to focus more on your studies and make better friends. Is that a deal?"

"It's a deal, Daddy!" Stella agreed, and they shook hands on it just to make it official.

Now that she was packing, Stella wasn't so sure if she wanted to go back again. Surely everyone must've heard what had happened to her and this would clearly affect her popularity level, especially since repeating the grade would mean she'd have to stay in a freshman dorm, instead of the dorm she'd had last year, except she'd do sophomore level work and stay with her old roommates. Could she possibly handle having to start completely over?

But what got to her most of all was what her crush, Brandon, would think of her. Yes, she'd told him all this, and he said it was fine, as long as he could see her. But, would he, too, abandon her once he found out how mistreated she was by the rest of Alfea?

Stella shook her head. Her suitcases were to small, so she was forced to use a simple spell to make them fit. Plus, all her suitcases were completely huge, which meant that she would have to use another spell to make them smaller. Stella couldn't help but feel bad for those who didn't have magic. She could only imagine just how difficult it was to have to do everything the "old fashioned" way.

Once she had finally finished packing, she prepared to leave for Magix. Technically, school didn't start until tomorrow, but she wanted to move her stuff in today so she could check out all the great shops in Magix.

To do so, she pulled a ring off of her finger, and this wasn't just some ordinary ring. No. It was a highly coveted Solarian heirloom: the Ring of Solaria. When she threw it into the air, it would become a scepter, which not only increased her powers(winx) it also allowed her to travel between the realms.

She did just this, shouting, "Sun power!" She twirled the scepter and directed it to go to Magix.

Once her transportation had ended, she looked around. She saw a small woods, only, it wasn't the woods of Magix that she knew. Magix had pine trees; these were maple or oak. Plus, the sky wasn't as blue and she couldn't feel the magic in the air. In fact, Stella wasn't sure if she felt any magic at all.

"Wait a minute," she asked herself aloud, "am I on…Earth?"

She had heard of it in one of her classes, though she wasn't at all certain which one it could've been. She'd been told by her professor that Earth was a non-magical planet, inhabited by magicless humans.

_Poor humans, _she had thought. _How do they get along without even the slightest use of magic? It must be so boring there._

Stella looked up into the sky. How had she ended up here in the first place? From what she could remember, she was certain that this time, she had paid attention to her spell, so why had it failed?

Her answer arrived when she heard growling in the distance, and saw what she recognized quite well to be ghouls. Ghouls were nasty creatures that often ate creatures after just one bite to taste, and generally were red. If they were another color, they were just that much more dangerous; those ghouls' bites were deathly poisonous. Stella could tell that these were red.

"What are you so afraid of little fairy?" a voice asked, and she didn't know it. Soon, a large, bright yellow ogre came into view. He seemed to be leading the ghouls. How had they gotten onto a non-magical planet? If Stella was sure of anything, they had been sent here by someone else, to do the work for them. But what could they want with her?

A ransom, maybe.**(2)** Her father was a king, and Solaria was a very rich planet, so perhaps they would threaten to have her taken off to a dangerous place in exchange for $500 million. Such things had been heard of by kingdoms she knew of, so it wouldn't be surprising, but something about the way the ogre was looking at her told Stella that it was something else.

"What do you want, smelly?" the princess of Solaria demanded, taking a stance to show she was not afraid, when it reality, she was, and greatly.

"Your scepter," he answered simply. "If you don't hand it over right now, you're ghoul food. The choice is yours."

"Then I'll take C for none of the above!" Stella growled. She summoned her powers and her entire body began to glow a bright orange color. She swirled around in the air, and after a few seconds, her original attire of a half top, sandals, long skirt, and a crown had been replaced by a completely different outfit.

Her blonde hair was pulled back into two long pigtails. She wore shiny brass bracelets, orange shorts, a matching crop top, and boots that reached nearly to her knees that were the same color of her shirt and shorts. And at her back, small, elegant wings grew, allowing her to fly.

Stella gripped her scepter and gave a mighty stance. "Rising sunburst!" she called out, and hit one of the ghouls with an attack of great solar-based power.

Stella was attacked by both the ogre and the ghouls for what felt like a long time. She wasn't sure if she could keep it up much longer when help came in the most unlikely form.

* * *

**(1): **_When I first watched the third season, and in episode 2, one of the people said, "This is impossible. It has never rained on Solaria," I wondered how the plants managed to stay alive. Sure, magic is the first thing that comes to mind, but magic shouldn't be able to solve everything. So I think that special water would be a similar reason, but less typical. _

**(2): **_If I was a princess, and an ogre was chasing me, that's the first thing I would assume considering all the movies and shows I've seen that often invovled kidnapping important or famous people for money. _

_Alright, so that was just the opening. Reviews are always appreciated, so if you happen to be reading this, I'd care a lot if you happened to give me your opinion. _


	2. It Feels Like Magic

_Alright, a little sooner than I first assumed, but here's the first chapter. And yes, as promised, it's much longer than the opening. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Who knows how many words the whole thing will total up to. Now, just so that if you care, to me, the first chapter of a story is the most important, along with the ending. If I don't like the opening, I'm not going to like the whole product, even if the rest is good. So, I've done my very best, but here's the first chapters. Hopefully you think it's decent._

_So, like I said, some episodes I'll base slightly off of Rai, this being one of them since the format made so little sense in the 4kids version. But, I'm keeping most of the 4kids dialogue, just tweeking it to make Stella sound less like an airhead. Also, points go to whoever figures out which line of this I based off on Rai. _

_Just as note, I know this chapter had **a lot **of Bloom, and I'm sorry for those of you who think she gets the spotlight to much, but it was unavoidable. I tried my best to bounce back and forth between her and Stella, but even then, still kind of Bloom-centered. But, starting next chapter, we'll hear more about the other girls, okay? _

_Now, let's jump right into it, shall we? _

* * *

**Chapter One:**

_**It Feels Like Magic**_

The bright sun rose over the pleasant city of Gardenia, California, proving that today, just as any other day, was to be beautiful, and special. But nobody knew just how special the day was to be.

Mrs. Vanessa Summers**(1)** opened the bedroom door and peered at the bed, where she found her sleeping adoptive daughter, Bloom. Her daughter was lying peacefully as she reclined on her bed. Vanessa noticed her book of fairytales on the ground, indicating Bloom may have spent the last night reading it, which was strange. Bloom hadn't been interested in fairies in years. What had suddenly brought up her love for them?

Mrs. Summers could remember when Bloom had been young, when she'd still loved to play and always talked about how when she grew up, she wanted to be princess, or a singer, or anything else like that, just as most young girls did. Vanessa could not help but miss those days. Back then, her little girl had always went to her, and to her husband, Mike, for help, but now, Bloom was nearly all grown up, and soon, she'd be going off on her own. She would give so much just to have her daughter's childhood back, but what was done was done; the past had come and went, and Bloom was now a sixteen-year-old, and a well-raised one at that.

"Bloom!" Vanessa now said, knowing quite well that her daughter was a light-sleeper. "You'd better get up, or you're going to be late."

"School?" Bloom gasped as her bright blue eyes popped open and she jumped out of bed. "Why didn't you get me up before? The alarm should've gone off." She paused to look at her alarm clock. "Oh no, I'm so late!"

Vanessa watched with a pleasant smile as Bloom went from going into the shower in her bathroom, drying off her hair with a towel, and getting dressed in what just had to have been record time. As Bloom slipped her hair out of her shirt, she instantly realized what was going on.

"Wait a minute." She slapped her hand against her forehead. Why had she been so stupid? "School doesn't start for another three weeks! Mom, that was so mean!" She finished giving her mother an unpleasant look.

"Well, for the past week you've been doing nothing other than sleeping the day away," her mother defended. "I had to do something to get you up."

"Well, ha-ha, very funny. While you think up your next prank to pull on me, I'll be in bed," Bloom replied, climbing back into her bed and resting her head against her soft pillow.

Vanessa sighed as she crouched down and picked up Bloom's book. "Fairies?" she asked. "You haven't been interested in those since you were a little girl."

"I just wanted to read it," Bloom answered sleepily as she attempted to keep her eyes closed from the bright sun shining into the room.

"Well okay." Vanessa turned to her daughter, and after a moment of hesitance, she pulled the covers off her.

Bloom groaned. "Mom, I'm tired. Please, just twenty more minutes?"

Vanessa thought it over. She wanted Bloom to stop sleeping in so much, but if she forced her to get out of bed now, she would probably end up being tired all day, and she knew her husband had things he wanted for Bloom to do that day. Finally, she relented.

"Alright, but after that, come straight down for breakfast and say hello to your father before he leaves for work."

"Fine," Bloom agreed, giving her a thumbs up before shoving her pillow over her head as she made herself more comfortable._ Some comfort at last_, she thought.

Vanessa shook her head as she walked out of her daughter's room. Just thinking about fairies reminded her of how her daughter had been adopted. Vanessa knew that she had to tell Bloom sometime, but she always ended up putting it off, afraid of how she may react.

_She will know when she's ready._ Vanessa decided. _When the time is right. _

* * *

Once her twenty minutes were up, Bloom climbed out of bed, and went downstairs, as promised. As she walked into the kitchen, she could not help but yawn out of weariness.

The first thing she saw was her father, Mike, dressed in his work clothes. Mike worked as a firefighter and often worked almost ten-hour days, but this, along with the income from Vanessa's flower shop, gave the Summers all the money that they found necessary.

"Morning Dad," Bloom greeted as she watched him read the morning paper.

He looked up and smiled. "Good morning Bloom. Get enough sleep last night?" he teased. He knew she did; she always did. In addition, usually, it was much more than enough. She slept so much that Mike wondered how she managed to stay awake during the day. It was a good thing he had talked his wife into waking her up on time this morning.

Bloom did not seem to find his joke funny. She joined him at the table and thanked her mother when she sat a plate of eggs, toast, and bacon in front of her. She was not very hungry, but something was oddly telling her that she needed to get a good meal. It was to be a long day.

"Bloom," Mike, said, "before you go off and do what you want, I want you to clean your room up a little. Okay?"

Bloom swallowed her food and nodded. "Yes Dad. After that, I think I'll take Kiko to the park."

"That sounds nice," Vanessa smiled as she joined her family. "But don't stay out to late, dear."

"I won't Mom," Bloom assured her. She loved her parents, but sometimes, she wished they did not care so much about her safety. She was sixteen, after all. Surely, that is old enough to decide whether or not you're safe, right?

Bloom finished her breakfast as her parents continued to eat and have a small conversation. She put her dishes into the sink and rinsed them off. She could do the dishes later, to show her mom that she cared.

She wiped her hands with a paper towel and threw it away, proceeding to return to her bedroom. She walked up the stairs, gripping the railing as she walked two steps at a time. She reached the top in a few seconds and walked down the hallway and into her own bedroom.

Once there, she saw her little pet rabbit, Kiko, sitting up on her bed. "Hi Kiko," she said, walking to the bed and petting the bunny. "Did you miss me?"

Though she knew rabbits could not talk, Bloom watched Kiko do what she assumed was his sign language for "yes".

"How sweet," she smiled, picking him up and setting him on his basket. She looked around her room, and picked up her book of fairytales. Just that night around eleven o'clock she had read the tale of a beautiful fairy princess.

Just thinking about it took Bloom back to when her mother used to read that story to her every night. She remembered how Vanessa always told it. "Once upon a time," she would say, "in a beautiful kingdom lived a princess…"

"But not just a princess!" Young Bloom often interrupted. "A _fairy _princess. Isn't that right Mom?"

Vanessa would nod. "That's right." She continued reading. "The princess's name was Colleen, and she was a beautiful, smart, and a magical fairy princess. When she grew older, she fell in love with a prince…"

Bloom recalled how her mother would next explain that an evil girl from another kingdom, who also loved the prince, envied the princess. Therefore, she cursed the princess, by making her lose her magic powers.

"And the only way they could be returned is by what, honey?" Mrs. Summers would ask her.

"True love's kiss!"**(2)**

"That's right, and when the prince kissed Colleen, they fell madly in love, got married…"

"And lived happily ever after!" Bloom would finish. The ending was always her favorite part of the story.

Bloom laughed to herself as she thought about all those memories of her childhood. Because of those stories, for the first several years of her life, it had been Bloom's wish to _be _a fairy princess when she grew up, and to marry a prince who she could live happily ever after with. Now older, Bloom understood that wishing such a thing to happen in the real world was ridiculous, but it was still nice to dream.

Bloom set the book back on her shelf, where it belonged. She remembered how her mother had asked her why she was so into reading her fairy books so much. The truth was she did not know either. She just got this feeling, this compulsion, advising her to read up as much on fairies as she could.

Bloom continued by cleaning up the rest of her room. She looked out her window and watched as her dad drove out of the driveway, clearly headed off to work. She smiled. She remembered her father being a firefighter as long as she could remember. It would feel so strange if he suddenly were to retire and go into another field.

Once her room had officially been deemed acceptable, she walked out of her room, Kiko following behind her obediently. She walked back downstairs and saw her mother.

"By Mom," she told her, "we're off to the park. We'll back soon."

"Okay," Vanessa said. "Have a good time."

"We will!" Bloom called back.

She and Kiko walked out to the garage and Bloom pulled out her bike. It had been a present for her fourteenth birthday. She loved her bike, and had spent many days that summer riding it throughout her hometown.

She got on, set Kiko carefully into the basket, told him to hang on tightly, and set off.

* * *

Bloom knew Gardenia to be a pleasant, well-run city. The people were friendly and since it was located near the Pacific Ocean (So close, in fact, there was a beach right on the edge of town), the whole town went through a yearlong summer, and Bloom liked that. She had visited other places in the country that had snow, and liked it, but always was happy to be back at Gardenia, where she could act as if it was summer no matter what day or month it was.

Once Bloom had walked onto the sidewalk, she stood her bike up and walked it down the street, deep in thought. _Why do I keep feeling like something is going on today? _She kept asking herself. _Today is just as any other day…isn't it? Oh, I don't know. I just wish I-_

"Hey Bloom," an annoying voice spoke, distracting her thoughts.

Bloom knew that voice all to well. Yes, it was Mitzi all right. The spoiled, rotten, richest girl in all of Gardenia. Mitzi had long, black hair that reached almost to the ground, and she wore glasses, but they looked more like fashion glasses than real ones, and her outfit was usually her simple pants and shirt. It seemed that today, nothing about that had changed. In short, Mitzi was beautiful, but she was _not _someone you would call "nice". Bloom knew that for sure. How Mitzi managed to get away with calling her names was beyond her. Couldn't she just give her a break? At least once? However, today did not seem to be that break she desperately wanted.

Bloom stopped as soon as she heard her voice and listened as Mitzi immediately insulted her bike. "Isn't it time to send that two-wheeled relic to the junk pile?" she asked, looking down at her through her glasses, obnoxiously as always.

"There's nothing wrong with this bike!" Bloom insisted. "My dad got it for me."

"Oh, you poor girl," Mitzi said sarcastically, adjusting her spectacles again, this time in a completely rude way. "Of course, I don't mean poor as is not rich." Bloom stared at her in amazement, and it soon turned to rage. "Even though that _is _what you are."

For a moment, Bloom wished that she did have powers. Then she could maybe turn Mitzi into a monkey, or worse. That would teach her a lesson. Why had she put up with her for so many years? Bloom knew that eventually, she was going to have to tell Mitzi off…just not today.

"Hey fellows!" Mitzi suddenly called out, only then did Bloom see the van, and two men stood behind it, carrying a purple scooter of some sort. It obviously must have been Mitzi's. "Careful with my scooter."

Bloom smirked. _Why am I not surprised? _She stopped when Mitzi turned back to her and pretended to be slightly interested, just to humor her.

"It's brand new, you know," the other girl bragged smugly as she turned back around.

Bloom could not help but have a tiny bit of a smile as she decided that she leave Mitzi. She had promised Vanessa that she wouldn't be gone for too long. "Well, see you later, Mitzi," she said, getting onto her bike and riding onto the street.

Bloom kept turning thoughts over in her head as she rode through the city. _Things are just way too complicated. I'm looking forward to when everything makes sense again, and I can go back to having my regular lifestyle._

Trying to distract herself, she paid attention to the many familiar buildings that she passed. She passed the smaller area of town, which was closer to where she lived, and ended up in the greater half. It was over here that her high school was: Gardenia High. It was not your most prestigious academy, but it did have a good curriculum. In fact, most of the teachers there also worked as professors at the neighboring university.

Bloom continued off into the city of Gardenia. The Sun hang high in the blue sky, shining brightly. It was a beautiful day. She had made a good decision in getting out on a day like this.

As she rode by, she passed a small shop, which was owned by one of her parents' friends, Mr. Alfonso Genero. "Bloom," he called out, waving to her, "say hello to your mother for me!"

"Will do Mr. Genero," she promised, "see you later!"

She continued on, feeling almost as if she were flying. She knew her thoughts would seem silly to anyone else, but it was that very feeling that made her like to go off and ride her bike so much. She felt free. She felt as if she were soaring through the air. If it were not dangerous, she could close her eyes and picture herself, high in the air, so high she could touch the clouds and feel more of the sun.

Though she never liked to think about it much anymore, Bloom remembered when she had told a majority of her thoughts to her ex-boyfriend, Andy. He was a charming guy. Sure, he had glasses, but that did not deter his good looks. They just simply were not right for each other. Bloom wondered how Andy was doing now. She hadn't heard from him since he'd broken up with her right before school ended. Just like any other year, he and his family took a trip. This year they went to Hawaii. Bloom planned to question Andy as soon as she heard he had returned.

After how long she had already traveled, it was a mere short mile left until she had reached the small Gardenia Park. It was a simple area. Bloom had always loved coming here.

She parked her bike up by a tree. As she did, she told her little bunny, "Go find an acorn, Kiko, and I'll toss it around with you." She pulled an apple off one of the trees and wiped it off on her pants.

She sat down and made herself comfortable at the back of the tree, in front of her bike. She noticed Kiko had wandered off on his own, but he did this quite often, so it was not a big deal to her. She picked up her large apple and bit into it. Just as she expected, it was sweet and juicy, just the way she liked her apples.

Shortly after Bloom had taken a bite, Kiko appeared, scared and shocked. He ran up to her and shook her pant leg. She wasn't worried. "What?" she asked, not affected by his fear. "Did you see one of those _scary _squirrels again?"

He didn't seem to lighten up. "Alright," she sighed, "I'll come and see."

She followed him as he swiftly ran. He led her up to an empty area, and she took a peek not expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, as soon as she saw the blonde girl with the wings on her back, hitting small red creatures with some type of power, she knew that this _was not _an ordinary day like she had thought.

* * *

Stella had been fighting the ogre and the ghouls, and it seemed that the ogre was not at all pleased that she was taking down his minions. However, it still confused her. There is no way an ogre would want a scepter, so who did? And why?

She noticed that a few ghouls were coming by her, so she quickly avoided collision and pounded her specter on the ground as she shouted, "Solar-wind blast!"

The ghouls ended up going right back at the ogre. He looked at her with intense anger, as if his eyes were glowing. When one of the ghouls ended up in his hand, he snapped it, and its particles disappeared into thin air.

_That's useful to remember, _Stella thought, but she still needed a plan to take care of them. She was so tired already. Who knew if she would win this fight or not. Oh, why had she decided to not pay attention to the lesson on battling forest creatures?

She decided that if she was very unlikely to be able to fight this ogre off on her own, maybe she could scare him. Yes, that had to be it. She thought about what to say. It had to be brave, she decided. In addition, realistic, yet still sound like herself, even though she knew for sure that she would never meet this ogre again.

"Newsflash Mr. Hideous," she told him, "the power of Solaria is so going to flatten you." If she could, Stella would have slapped herself for how that had come out. For one thing, calling him "Mr. Hideous" sounded childish, but what made it worse was that she had even pronounced her own realm's name wrong, and she was the princess!

In addition, her bad remark seemed to affect her progress on this fight. Next, the ogre growled, which she had to admit, frightened her a little, and charged after her. "_You're _the one who's going to get flattened!" he insisted, as he ran into her, causing her to be sent flying, and she landed on her back.

"You're finished, little fairy girl," the ogre told her. "Now ghouls, bring me her scepter!"

Normally, Stella would've stood back up in a situation like this, and flew into the air for protection. She knew the ghouls couldn't get her from there. But this ogre had hit her so hard, she felt terrible pain, and struggled to attempt to sit up. By the time she had tried, the ghouls attacked her, and bound her limbs.

"I'm warning you," she said, her voice muffled, "you'll never get away with this!"

"I think I just did," the ogre replied as one of the ghouls handed him her scepter. "Your scepter's ours!" he declared, getting into her face. "And you're history."

Stella looked up at him, clearly afraid now. She had lost her scepter, and even though Stella loathed admitting it, without the ring/scepter of Solaria, her powers were weak. Therefore, now that they had her scepter, she pretty much had no way to defend herself. They won.

Or so she thought.

"Leave her alone."

The ogre, just as Stella, had been surprised to hear the voice. Stella turned around to see an Earth girl with bright, long red hair, blue eyes, and she wore simple clothing, that was also blue, but a lighter tint. Stella grew worried. If this girl had seen the ogre, this meant she had seen her, too. That was not good. She could get in huge trouble if the faculty at Alfea found out that she had given herself away to a human. She already had given herself a bad name with the potion lab incident, and the last thing she needed was to give them yet another reason to reconsider giving her another chance.

"Come get me," the red-haired girl finished. Then she seemed surprised. "Wait, did I just say that?"

_For an Earth girl, she sure is brave, _the princess of Solaria thought. If she was from this planet and suddenly saw magical beings having a battle, she would have just run off, pretending that she had not seen anything. But this girl was different.

The ogre got up, continuing to glare at the girl. "You sure did." He growled again, and grabbed the girl in his hand. "You should learn to mind your own business!"

The mysterious girl most certainly didn't like that the ogre had grabbed her. She struggled. "Let go!" she shouted, and when she did, Stella swore that she saw bursts of magic knock the ogre onto the ground.

"Get back!" she rebuked as ghouls ran to her, and they, too, ended up on the ground from one of her attacks. Stella was stunned. This girl was from _Earth_? How did that make sense? This was supposed to be a non-magical planet. But, Stella knew that she was right in thinking that this girl was powerful.

Stella noticed the girl show some serious skill as she nailed one of the ghouls. Now that she was freed, Stella got to her feet and picked up her scepter. "Wow," she complimented, walking up to the girl, "you've got winx, girl, major winx."

"What?" she gasped. "Me? What do you mean?"

The ogre seemed to think that he had things, even though he just lost respect from being knocked down by an Earth girl. Sure, she was a powerful one, but an Earth girl nonetheless.

"Laugh all you want, fashion fiasco," Stella said. "You're going down!" She meant this literally, as power came from her scepter, and knocked the ogre flat on his back. She smiled. "I suggest, you like, get out of our realm. Now."

"Watch it," the girl warned her as Stella saw the ghouls approaching her again. She gripped her scepter tightly.

"Don't worry girl," she assured her. "I've got this one covered."

Using her scepter as it charged up, Stella twirled it around shortly before blasting some of the ghouls with a fierce attack of her sun-based magic.

It appeared that the ogre had given up. "We'll meet again, Princess Stella," he said, as he and the rest of the ghouls disappeared.

"I can't say I'm looking forward to that," Stella told the Earth girl. However, she did not get to hear her response, for she soon collapsed from exhaustion.

The Earth girl, Bloom, went to her aid and watched as the fairy's clothes changed into a new outfit that seemed rather strange. The ogre had called her _Princess_, so maybe this is how royalty dressed from wherever she was from.

"Are you okay?" Bloom inquired, as if the girl was going to answer her. She turned to her rabbit. "We'd better take her home. She needs major help."

* * *

"So she's been asleep for twelve hours because she's a fairy?" Mike asked Bloom that night. "Is that like a Goth or something?"

Bloom had immediately taken Stella back to her house. It had been hard to strap her onto her bike with her, but after some time, they had made it. The first thing she did was lay the fairy on the living room couch and she had not left her side since.

Her parents had been asking her questions ever since she got home about whom she was and what she was doing here. Bloom had simply told them the truth: she was a fairy, and she needed help. It seemed that Mike was being extra stubborn today on what he did and did not believe were real. He was not hearing any of it.

"I'm talking real fairy, Dad, with a scepter," Bloom answered. "Magic powers and fluttering wings." She sort of sighed as she added in the last part. "She's amazing."

"You must have a very high fever," Mike insisted. "I think we should call Dr. Silverman."

It caught them all off guard when the fairy suddenly woke up. Stella opened her eyes groggily and looked around at her surroundings. "Hey, good morning."

"It's evening, hun," a voice behind her corrected. She turned to the arm of the couch she was laying on to see a woman that she guessed was the Earth girl's mom since that girl was here. "How do you feel?"

Stella thought about it for a moment. "Fine now," she replied, sitting up and adjusting her crown. "Thanks to this girl right here," she added, pointing to the red-haired girl. "My name's Stella," she introduced.

"Hey there, Stella," the girl smiled. "My name is Bloom."

"Let's call your parents, now, shall we?" Bloom's mother suggested.

"I'm afraid that's easier said than done," Stella replied. "I mean, let's face it, they live almost six other realms away, in a kingdom called Solaria." Normally Stella would have never opened up to a bunch of Earth people, but than again, it wasn't everyday that she got her life saved by an Earth girl, either.

Stella tried to explain how she had gotten here when Bloom's dad seemed to be tuning her out. "Oh boy. Oh boy." He approached the phone. "I'm calling Dr. Silverman. We'll see if he can figure out why the two of you are seeing things that aren't there."

Stella scowled. She knew that this might seem a little farfetched to humans, but after all, why else would she be dressed with a crown if she weren't a princess from another realm? Why couldn't he just accept that?

Then she realized that if he made that call, they'd probably hall her off to some mental institution, and then she would probably never get to Alfea, or even back to Solaria. Therefore, she decided, that she needed to stop him. Thinking quickly, she used her magic and changed his phone into a cabbage and carrot.

He gasped as soon as he realized that they had changed. "Huh?"

"You still think we're out of our boards?" Stella asked using typical slang she had heard in the cities of Solaria. She had never known anyone who lived in the capital like herself to talk like that except for some of her friends, like a younger girl named Nova.

"Whoa, that was so awesome!" Bloom exclaimed

"_You're_ the one who's majorly awesome, Bloom," Stella told her. "Just earlier today, she saved me from this ogre who attacked me. She's really powerful."

"It's true," Bloom agreed. "But I don't know how I did it."

"It's like I told you this morning, Bloom. You're loaded with magic."

"Me?" Bloom felt as if she were flying right then. She saw stars, and many beautiful colors. Right then, things felt so right.

"Hey, I have a great idea," Stella said. "You should come to Alfea with me. It's the best magic school in the whole universe."

"Hold it!" Mike cut in. "My daughter's not going to another realm!"

"Well, you don't have to decide anything today." She turned to Bloom and stood. "I'll stay the night since it doesn't seem like it would do me any good heading to Alfea at this hour. Then, you can make your decision. Mind showing me your room?" she asked Bloom.

"No problem."

The two girls headed up the stairs. They'd only known each other for a short amount of time, but Bloom knew that from how they had just hit it off in the living room that this was the start to a beautiful friendship.

She led Stella up the stairs and through the hallway. The fairy seemed to be paying attention to everything she saw, but Bloom had to remind herself that Stella was from a whole other planet; a princess no less. Surely, she must live in a fancy palace of some sort. Well, that explained why she was so into reading fairy books lately. It was sort of foreshadowing to her meeting a real fairy princess.

Bloom opened her bedroom door and Stella instantly reacted, fascinated by her room. "Hey, cool room Bloom. Wow. You should totally bring it to Alfea. A quick packing spell and it'll fit in a handbag."

"Stella, I don't think I'm going to Alfea."

"Huh?" Stella was confused. Bloom was her friend and she had powers. So what was wrong?

"I don't think I have powers anymore. I mean, I know I fought that ogre in the park, but now…" She pointed to where her pants ripped.

"Trust me Bloom," Stella assured her. "Someone with magic like you have doesn't lose their powers. They're just rusty from sitting unused for so long." Stella couldn't help but feel bad for Bloom. She had spent her whole life living with magic and she never even knew it. She could only imagine how the red-haired girl was feeling now.

"Do you think I'm like the girl in this book?" Bloom asked her, holding up her book of fairytales. "Because she was very powerful, but she was a princess."

"Let's see." Stella accepted the book and began to flip through it, glancing at the pictures but not noticing that much on what was on them. "Kind of, but it was written by humans. You're a lot better than that. And more fashionable." She closed the book and set it down.

"Wow," Bloom said, staring off into space. "I can't believe that I really do know magic, and have-what did you call it?-winx."

"Yes," Stella answered. "The magic has always been inside you Bloom. It's like my fairy godmother-nanny-used to say, 'You just need to get the perfect experience to find out what you're really capable of'."

Bloom wondered about that. Magic seemed so complicated to her, but of course it was. She had not known anything about her powers for sixteen years. What was she supposed to know? What could this all mean?

"Magic seems hard to figure out," Bloom sighed.

"No, not really. You just have to master it with a little practice. Now try this." Stella turned to a recycled coffee cup that held Bloom's colored pencils. Using her powers, she combined them together into one big pencil. "It's a simple matter-merge exercise. Now you give it a shot."

Bloom stood and walked over to it. Bloom was nervous, and not sure she was able to do it, but if she was ever going to figure her powers out, she had to practice. Therefore, she did her best to imitate Stella's hand movements, but no matter how hard she tried, the pencil stayed in the same form.

She sighed and sat back down on her bed, defeated. "I don't feel anything."

"You just need practice," Stella told her. "It's really no biggie." With a simple hand gesture, the giant pencil danced around until the pencils had separated again and landed back in their cup. "That's why you have to come with me to Alfea. We have the best teachers there who can surely get you zapping stuff like any other fairy."

"What's it like there?"

Stella thought about that. Bloom was raised her whole life as any other human, so it seemed complicated to explain a whole other realm to her. But, after a moment of thoughts, she put the right words together.

"Well, it's not all that different from your regular high school on Earth from what I learned in one of my classes last year," she answered. "The only real differences is that Alfea a private girl's school in a realm called Magix and we all study magic and the realms instead of your regular curriculum."

"That sounds so cool. Are there any other schools in this Magix place?" Bloom inquired.

Stella nodded. "There are like six or seven. I can't remember which. But, there are three main ones: Alfea, Cloud Tower, and Red Fountain. Cloud Tower is a school for witches, and Red Fountain is a school of heroics and bravery, for specialists."

"So, a specialist is like a knight?"

"Well…sort of. To become a knight, you have to have a certain title and be a squire first, but anyone can be a specialist as long as they train in it. There are lots of hunks over at Red Fountain too."

"That sounds kind of cool. Are witches mean?"

Stella instantly nodded. "Oh yah. They're not exactly evil, but they certainly do enjoy torturing the fairies, but don't worry Bloom, as long as you can hit them with magic, they don't do much. The headmistress would report it to the Magix council if things got out of hand, and then Cloud Tower could get in trouble."

Bloom sighed. Things seemed so strange. From watching cartoons and reading books, she always assumed that fairies and witches were exactly like they showed, but now that she was speaking to a real-live fairy, she guessed that a witch must be like Stella; a pretty normal person, just with magic.

"Those heroes sound cool. Are they like any guys around here?"

"Yep. Hey, mind if I invite some?"

"You can do that from _here_?"

Stella nodded. She snapped her fingers and made a cell phone appear right into her hands. She typed in a few words and made the phone disappear again. "It's all set. They'll be in here a little bit."

Bloom felt so weirded out to know that some specialists were coming to her house. To take it off her mind, she changed the subject. "So, where is Alfea anyway?"

"Well, it's in Magix like I said. To get there you just go to the Interrealm of the Enchanted Ring and then you…" Stella paused. "Well, you can officially find out tomorrow, but I could show it to you."

"How?"

Bloom watched as Stella pulled out something that looked like a carpet. "This is an express portal," the fairy princess explained. "We could just go to Alfea, but they wouldn't let me in at this hour, so I have it set that we can appear into a virtual illusion of it, just so you can take a look. Come on, it's cool." Stella stood on top and Bloom watched as she began to sink inside. "Now follow me."

Bloom reluctantly copied her and sunk down until she had arrived in a foresty area filled with pine trees. She looked at a large, pink building with towers sticking out. It reminded Bloom of what she imagined Princess Colleen from her story might have lived in.

"There it is," Stella, pointed out. "The famous Alfea castle."

"Who goes here?" Bloom could not help but ask.

Stella laughed. "I know it seems pretty intimidating to know that this is the kind of place where people get educated, right? Well, many people think that Alfea is only for royalty, but it's not true. Most are princesses, yes, but there are several who aren't and many end up becoming better fairies than the princesses."

"Is Alfea like a regular high school?" Bloom asked.

"Yes, but it has only three years instead of four." Stella replied. "That's because the earliest you can get in is at age sixteen, and for most high schools, that's like sophomore age."

"That makes sense. How old are you Stella?"

"Seventeen," the princess said. "But I'm not on sophomore level. I'm repeating last year because of something that happened, something I did."

"What'd you do?"

Stella smiled. "Let's just say that what I did was so bad, I would've never been allowed back if I wasn't a princess." Stella could have told Bloom, but if she was going to come with her to Alfea tomorrow-and Stella just knew that she would be- she would find out anyway.

"Well, the hero boys should get here soon so let's go back to your room, okay Bloom?"

Bloom nodded and Stella demonstrated how to go back through. In a matter of seconds, she was back in her bedroom.

The rest of the time, Stella and her chatted until they heard something. They gasped, both realizing that this meant that Mike and Vanessa could be in danger. "Let's go save your parents Bloom!"

Bloom agreed, and the two of them took off through the hallway and down the stairs. Once they had arrived, they saw the ogre and his ghouls again, and this time, there was a blue creature Stella recognized to be a troll. She realized that the ogre had used it to track their scent.

It seemed that the troll had been smashing things, and Bloom could see her parents shaking. She felt like doing the same thing.

"Tell us where the girls are or you're ghoul food!" the ogre yelled just when they had arrived.

While Bloom was ready to go cower in a corner, Stella reacted, no longer afraid. "Turn around, sunshine!" she said, getting their attention.

"It's them!" the yellow ogre pointed out, stating the obvious.

Stella walked up to them. "I guess someone didn't learn their lesson." She pushed her Solaria ring into the air as she shouted, "Sun power!"

Once again, the room lit up with orange light as Stella's regular clothes faded and were replaced with her fairy outfit. As soon as she had transformed, she flew up to the troll and kicked it right in the face.

Bloom was amazed. Stella must have been very brave to just go up and kick the troll, knowing that she would make it mad. However, what puzzled her most was how she had done that. That changing into an outfit with wings. Was this one of the things Bloom herself would be able to do with magic?

Bloom walked up to Stella having no idea what else she could do. "Bloom, I'll handle them," she directed. "You take care of the ghouls."

"But how?"

"Just do something."

"Okay," Bloom replied, running. The ghouls followed her and lured her out of the house.

While Bloom had been running, she turned to the yellow ogre. "Take that!" she said, spelling him with her powers.

She was pleased to see that he went out of the house completely. While she celebrated, the troll approached her and she was sent through the window herself, landing hard on the ground.

The troll walked out and neither Stella nor Bloom knew what they could do. They just gasped as they waited to be hit again, but it did not happen, when out of nowhere came a lasso.

"Hey, Princess Stella, I hope your friend is the pretty one in the blue pants," a familiar voice said. Stella looked up and was relieved to see the specialists. Good thing she had invited them. She realized that it had been the blond-haired Prince Sky of Eraklyon speaking and she noticed that he had referred to Bloom as "pretty". She would tell her friend about that later.

"Yah and not this ugly guy at the end of the leash here." She saw that it was a magenta-haired boy named Riven who had caught the troll.

"Ditto that," a carrot-headed boy with glasses named Timmy agreed. Though he was stereotyped as a nerd, he also excelled in his battle classes.

In addition, with the others had come her crush, Brandon. He was a dreamy boy with chocolaty-brown hair and eyes that matched. Moreover, it was not just his looks and his biceps that made Stella attracted to him. It was his voice, too.

"All right," Sky continued, "I suggest a three-proge rescue op."

"Forget that," Riven disagreed. "I got this puppy rapped up all by myself."

"Dude," Brandon pointed it, leaning on his high-tech sword. "One summer at a swashbuckler camp doesn't mean you can go solo on a troll." Brandon closed his eyes and shook his head when he watched Riven fly off from the troll's tugging. Brandon sometimes got tired of Riven's stubbornness. "I rest my case."

Bloom and Stella watched as Riven landed right by them. "Here's a tip," Stella told him. "You may want to listen to your teammates."

Riven rolled his eyes.

While the others battled, things kept getting heated. When the other guys needed help, Riven stood and said, "Stay here. This won't take long."

Stella and Bloom did listen to his advice, but they got up first. Bloom had noticed the blond boy. He was just so attractive. But, he was way out of her league. After all, he was a hero and she was just some girl from Earth.

When she saw one of the boys get hit, Bloom suddenly put her hands into a position that was unfamiliar and said, "Leave him alone!" as she shot the ogre with an energy blast.

"Awesome shot there, Bloom," Stella smiled.

Bloom gaped at her and looked at her hands as if they would give some indication on how she had done it. "It just happened."

"Like I said: you've got winx."

"Back off shorty," the ogre warned Riven.

"_You're_ the one who's gonna back of, ogre, or I'm gonna put my 'stinkus removus' spell on you and you're going to end up smelling like you just took a bath."

Whether it was Stella's threat or he was afraid of the odds, the ogre ended up disappearing.

"I knew that would scare him," Stella laughed victoriously.

Stella walked Bloom over to the specialists. She had a dreamy look in her eyes as she told her, "Bloom, these are the Red Fountain guys I was telling you about."

The guys said hello and Stella introduced them all one by one. "Meet Riven." Bloom looked to the magenta-haired boy and he continued to scowl. Bloom realized if this was how he behaved at the first meeting that he was probably just this type of guy.

"Brandon," she continued. Brandon posed with his sword making Stella thinking he was even hotter than she had remembered.

"Timmy." Timmy gave a sweet little smile.

"And Prince Sky."

Prince Sky gave a salute along with one of his signature smiles. "How're you doin'?" he asked, sounding smooth. Bloom could not help but think that he was much more appealing than her ex-boyfriend had ever been.**(3)**

The troll tried to escape, but one of the guys cuffed his neck. "Not so fast tough guy, you're coming with us." Sky told him.

"Yah," Brandon agreed. "You've done enough damage for one day, pal."

It was only then that Mike and Vanessa emerged out of hiding. They had slipped out a window while Stella and Bloom had distracted the ogre and his friends. The two appeared to be very frightened, which all but Bloom had expected.

"Where're you guys taking him?" Bloom asked as she saw the troll be tied up by some type of device and a portal emerged.

"We'll bring him back to Red Fountain." Riven replied. "They'll probably send him to a creature preserve."

"So long!" Brandon called.

And just before the guys had disappeared, Sky said, "Bloom, I sure hope I see you at Alfea!"

Bloom smiled back in reply. Once he and the others had disappeared, she thought, _I hope that too._

* * *

Just as Stella had promised, she ended up staying the night at the Summers' house. She stayed in Bloom's room and zapped in a temporary bed. She and Bloom had spent some time talking about magic and boys before they finally did go to bed, but it was worth it.

Stella had convinced Bloom to pack a bag, just in case. Even if her parents did not let her go to Alfea, Stella wanted Bloom to come visit her in Solaria sometime. She didn't see the harm in that.

The next morning, Stella sent away her temporary bed and used her powers to change back into her regular outfit, which consisted of a shirt that was as thin as bikini top and a shorter-than-average miniskirt.

After her hair and everything had been done, she walked in the living room and saw Bloom's father, Mike, sweeping away some broken glass. "Hey, Bloom's dad," she asked, "Why don't you let me whip this place into shape with a little magic?"

"I've had enough magic," he replied, but was interrupted by Bloom's voice. He saw his daughter and wife, but Bloom was holding a valise. "Why do you have a suitcase?"

"Just in case you guys let me go with Stella," his daughter answered. "Then I'll be packed."

"I know you're way more grown up then we thought you were, and you have a special gift, but we still have to check the school out and find out more about Alfea."

"If it's anything like Stella says it is, you'll be in for a wonderful adventure," Vanessa added.

"How do you we get there Stella?"

"My scepter can handle it," Stella replied, taking her ring off her finger. "Hold on tight everybody. Sun power!" Once the ring was her scepter again, Stella conjured up her powers and the Summers family and little Kiko found themselves surrounded by what they did not recognize as magic.

It was only a matter of seconds when they landed in a valley of some sort, surrounded by beautiful mountains and pine trees that were so amazing, Bloom swore she saw them sparkling.

"Wow," Mike said when he landed. "Would you get a look at this place?"

"Come on," Stella urged. "Alfea is just up ahead. Follow me." They all stood up and followed.

Bloom took in the deep, pleasant aroma and surroundings of the outskirts of Magix. Just being in another realm felt amazing. Looking up into the sky, she knew that great things were going to come out of her being here, and…it felt like magic.

* * *

**(1): **_It was never officially stated in the show what last name Mike and Vanessa have, so I picked Summers since I thought it sounded nice._

**(2): **_If you ever saw Disney's, Enchanted, you for sure know where I got that line from._

**(3): **_When I first saw this episode, I thought it was strange that Sky saluted like that. It just seemed...awkward. I don't really know why, but I thought it would've been better if he'd just went, "Hi", or "Nice to meet you". _

_Alright, I checked this chapter a few times over for spelling and grammar mistakes, but if you see any, please tell me. I don't want to spoil your read with my errors. So, as always, read and review._

_Next chapter: "More than High School"_


	3. More Than High School

_Alright, so before we begin, here's my opinion on this episode: It was okay, but it was best when I was eight. Back then, all I cared was that it was on. But, when I watched my DVDs for ideas for this story, I have to say that this episode could've been better; in Rai and 4kids. I watched both versions of this episode, and did anyone notice how in neither we **never **hear Musa introduce herself? That, to me is completetly wrong, so that is changed. _

_So, this chapter, like the previous, is long but that's mostly because of all the dialogue I added in for the girls to get to know each other. So, hopefully you don't mind about that. So, yes, this chatper, like the other, has some Rai in it as well. The next chapter, I don't think, will have much dialogue from either dub. _

_**Warning: **This chapter starts off mainly Bloom-centered, switches to more about the girls later, and then goes back to Bloom. Sorry. I couldn't do it any other way without completetly rewriting the second half of the episode. _

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

**_More Than High School_**

"So, Mom and Dad, what do you plan to do if I can stay here?" Bloom asked her parents as they continued on.

"We'd miss you, but we could manage. That is, as long as you agree to keep in touch with us," Vanessa answered as she smiled sweetly. Though her mind had already been made up, her husband was going to take more convincing.

"And don't worry, I'd make sure of it," the princess of Solaria assured them. She knew that if she convinced Bloom's parents well enough, they'd for sure let her stay in Magix with her and she had to do that. It just wouldn't be right if she spent her year at Alfea without Bloom. They had become too good of friends in the day they had known each other for her to leave her behind.

The group continued walking until Stella led them up to the beginning of the short woods in front of her school. "That's it," she explained. "The realm-renowned Alfea school."

Bloom turned to get a good look at Alfea. She'd gotten a glimpse of it last night, yes, but to see it in person, right before her own eyes was just…incredible. There was no other word to describe it. When she looked to Mike and Vanessa, their wowed facial expressions showed that they were just as amazed by this as she was.

"It sure is pretty amazing," Vanessa pointed out in response to what Stella had said.

While Mike, on the other hand, was virtually speechless. He gasped aloud, stunned by the beauty of the building. He couldn't help but wonder how he had ever doubted that Alfea could not be a good school if it was _that _attractive just from the outside.

"It makes public school look lame in comparison," Bloom added as she smiled.

"Let's go!" Stella said excitedly, completely forgetting about the fact that it was impossible to take humans into Magix. "Alfea awaits."

"I wonder what their record is for college admission," Mike said as he walked toward the school and into what felt like a brick wall. "Hey. It's as if there's an invisible wall." He pushed, but it wouldn't budge. "I can't get through it."

"No?" asked Bloom. She walked to her where her father had stood and felt around, yet all she could feel was air. Invisible wall? Mike had to have been exaggerating. There wasn't anything there. "Where is it? I can't feel anything. Whatever it was, it's gone now."

Stella watched in shame, but tried to cover up her mistake. She should have remembered this; it'd been one of the main things that was known about Magix. It sounded like _magic _for a reason. Anyone who either was non-magical or not from the Magical Dimension couldn't get in.

"Actually," Stella corrected, "there is an invisible wall, and sadly," she showed the barrier to Mike and Vanessa with some magic, "it doesn't allow people from Earth without powers in Magix."

"Then maybe I shouldn't go." Bloom instantly reacted. She knew her parents wouldn't approve without their consent on the school from the inside. They barely had approved of her elementary school. There was no way they were just going to let her go to this Alfea place without having any info on it.

"No Bloom." Mike said and sighed. "Stella, is there any way you can show us how Alfea is like?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." the princess replied. She conjured up a sphere. "This the official Alfea slide globe and it comes complete with our school song."

Mike, Vanessa, and Bloom all watched as a screen appeared from the strange object and it showed images of Alfea and previous students, or maybe just current students when they were younger. They listened as the school's official anthem was sung loudly and clearly for them to enjoy.

_Oh, Alfea. Oh, Alfea._

_Our school makes us proud. _

_When you cheer for all our glory,_

_Always cheer out loud. _

_The best and brightest gather here_

_From all the many realms;_

_Learning potions, transformations _

_And empowering spells._

_Alfea, teach us well._

"So, what do you think?" Stella asked them, though the answer was clear from just looking at their emotional faces.

"I think Bloom's going to have a great year," Vanessa answered as Mike nodded his head in agreement. Bloom went up to give her a hug. "You'll have a wonderful time."

"She definitely will," Stella agreed. "I'll see to it."

Bloom gave her parents one more hug as Stella advised her that it was time to get going before orientation.

Stella pulled her ring off, and with a twirl, she caught her scepter and hit Bloom's parents with a bolt of magic. Bloom watched as her parents dissolved into the air. She waved goodbye.

Afterwards, Stella and Bloom headed toward Alfea with little Kiko following along after them. As they chatted the whole way there, Bloom had to admit that she was nervous since, fairy school aside, this _was _her first day.

They walked through the barrier so quickly, Bloom wasn't even sure if she felt anything. And if she did, it must've been so subtle that she may have believed it was merely a tickle or so.

Alfea looked even better up-close than it did from a distance. It was the most beautiful place Bloom had ever seen. Would she really be able to get used to this being her school?

_I have to_, she reminded herself. _After all, I'm kind of a fairy now._

Finally, now onto the school's grounds Stella stopped walking and told Bloom, "Though Alfea is normally a really cool place, _she _is the least cool person on this entire realm. Maybe even in the whole universe."

Bloom knew who she had been talking about. Bloom looked forward to see a middle-aged woman dressed in more old-fashioned type attire as she adjusted her glasses.

"Who's that? She looks scary."

"Griselda, head of discipline," the sun and moon fairy replied. "She _is _scary. And in bad need of makeover."

The red-haired Gardenia resident watched a girl approach the vice-headmistress, but only then did she realize what was going on. To get into Alfea, you had to be on the list Ms. Griselda was currently carrying. The woman was so sure of her list that she almost didn't let out the girl who introduced herself as an Eleanor of Dilona. If _she_ almost hadn't gotten in, then there was no way Bloom would.

"Oh no," Bloom gasped. "I'm not going to be on the list." She clung to Kiko.

"Don't fret, girlfriend, I've got it all figured out. The princess of Vallisto was supposed to come here this year, but she's doing home-schooling instead. She gave me a letter to give to the headmistress. I just won't give it too her and we'll be all set," Stella said as she ripped that said envelope up. "No one here knows what she looks like, so it's _perfect_."

"So you want me to pretend to be this princess?" Bloom could barely get out the words. "I don't know; I hate lying."

"Hey," Stella disagreed as she pushed Bloom in Griselda's direction. "We're not lying. We're just not telling all we know. Now follow my lead."

Bloom could do nothing other than to go with Stella and whatever it was she planned to say to the head of discipline. _Let's just hope she doesn't find out who I am. If so, I'm dead. Maybe I shouldn't have come to Alfea._

No, she took it back. Of course she wanted to come to Alfea. After all, she had powers, so it only made sense she wanted to train them. Plus, her new crush, Prince Sky, went to Red Fountain which was only a short forest away. As long as she was here, she was guaranteed getting to spend more time with him.

Before Bloom knew it, they had approached Griselda, and she seemed to have a distasteful look on her face as she gazed at the princess of Solaria. What, Bloom wondered, could Stella had done to make the faculty dislike her so much?

"Long time no see, Ms. G," Stella greeted casually. If she was going to ever graduate from this school, she needed to make a good impression. She had already failed with that the previous year, so now she aimed to show the school that she could be a good-well, decent-student and not get in trouble all the time.

But, Griselda didn't seem to think the same.

"Not long enough, Princess Stella," she replied as she kept up her glare. "Not after the little incident last year. I don't know how your parents convinced the school board to take you back. It's beyond me."

"They did donate that new computer lab," Stella added. Though the lab was yet to be built what with all the plans of remodeling the school was undergoing for next year, her parents had funded this as soon as they promised it.

"Who is your _friend_?" Ms. Griselda asked, getting back to business. If Princess Stella had destroyed a lab during her first try at Alfea, just who knew what one of her friends could end up doing. She nearly shuddered just considering it.

"Princess Varanda of Vallisto." Stella finished with a triumphant smile. Griselda couldn't tell her she was wrong this time. _That's right Ms. G, I was right. I won._

She didn't get to enjoy in it, though, since Griselda barely seemed to react. "Let's see, I'll check the list." She scanned for a few moments and nodded. "Yes. Varanda of Vallisto."

"Yah," Bloom added, just to make sure she didn't at all doubt her. "That's me." Her voice didn't sound confident, but that didn't affect things.

"You may come in," Griselda told them as she gestured them to move forward.

"Hey, welcome to Alfea," Stella congratulated her friend as they walked onward. This was good. Now all they had to get through was orientation and they'd be free for the rest of the day. Good.

"So now what?"

"Orientation," the sun and the moon fairy answered. "But, that isn't for a few minutes or so. Griselda and the headmistress don't instigate that until all the fairies have been checked in."

"What do we do until then?" Bloom asked. Things just kept getting more interesting by the minute. And to think that she had had plans in her life to just work as any other regular Earth person when she could've been doing this-training her magic? If only she had known about it sooner.

"I'll show you Alfea a little." Stella took Bloom's hand and they walked to the other end of the large, glowing building. No matter what angle you looked at it from, the great school never lots its ethereal beauty. Why couldn't high schools like this have been built back in Gardenia? If her high school had looked anything like _this_, she'd always be excited for school.

"Wow, this place is so amazing," Bloom said as she wandered around, Stella leading the way. Stella showed her the campus, and pointed her into the direction of the nearby city of Magix. It was just so…perfect. There was simply no other word in existence to explain it.

"Just wait until you've seen the whole realm," Stella smiled as she put an arm around her new friend. The two of them had, just as most of the freshmen, left their things temporarily at the base of the school. They would pick them back up once orientation was over.

It seemed that it had been only a short few minutes when Griselda's stern voice could be heard throughout the entire Alfea campus: "ALL FRESHMEN REPORT TO ORIENTATION AT THE QUAD!"

Bloom shuddered as Stella sighed. "I'm scared," she told her new friend as she looked in the direction of the head of discipline's voice.

"Don't worry, Bloom." Stella smiled. "It's just orientation, and Griselda's not that bad. It'll be fine."

* * *

But, as soon as Stella got to orientation and it had begun, she wished to the gods that she could take her words back in an instant.

Several other freshman fairies stood beside them as Ms. Griselda paced, her eyes glancing at them, clearly unpleased. Her voice was harsh, and from the sound of her heels clicking across the ground, she may have thought there were better things she could be doing beside this.

"First things first," Griselda began, "our code of behavior. The first rule is: you must follow all rules in the code of behavior."

If it weren't for the woman's stern tone, and the fear that had been instilled, Bloom would've giggled. The rule in itself was redundant.**(1)** After all, all schools demanded that rules be followed, so why have one of the rules be, "don't break the rules"?

"If you break the rules once, you will be forbidden to leave the school grounds," Ms. Griselda continued. "If you break the rules twice, your magic privileges will be suspended. And if you break the rules three times, you will be expelled."

To Stella, this seemed identical to the "follow the rules" speech she had received the previous year, yet one little remark from the head of discipline caused this one to be quite different.

"Isn't that right, Princess Stella?" Griselda suddenly asked, getting in the sun and moon fairy's face. Everyone's eyes suddenly landed on Stella in surprise, so the head of discipline explained. "Last year she destroyed the Potions laboratory with an unauthorized magic spell. Which brings me to the second rule: no unsupervised magic at any time."

There was a moment of silence as most of the girls turned to Stella, gawking at her in utter shock. Stella tried not to notice their faces, but it was inevitable. Why, oh why had she decided to do that? This year was not going to be turning out very well if this was only the first day and she was already getting humiliated.

As the staring continued, Bloom turned to her new friend, clearly surprised. "You really did that?" she inquired, her blue eyes wide.

"I was trying to create a new shade of pink," Stella said. Was it really _that _big of a deal? "Besides, my dad already paid for the damages. It was an accident."

After the small break, Ms. Griselda cleared her throat for attention and continued on with her lecture.

"Follow these rules, ladies, or I can easily see to it that you're on the next transportation spell back to your own realms. Have I made myself clear?"

All the girls nodded, and some gulped. They knew that Ms. Griselda wasn't the most…welcoming person, but this was just terrible.

Their prayers were answered when came the headmistress just from behind them. She appeared to be an older woman with gray hair, and she dressed like Bloom considered a secretary's clothes. She seemed kinder and more welcoming than the head of discipline.

"Who's that?" she whispered to Stella when Griselda's back was turned.

"That's the headmistress," explained Stella.

The headmistress approached them and smiled. "Welcome all. I'm Ms. Faragonda, your headmistress. I'm an Alfea alumna and a former fairy godmother."

There were a few girls who shyly waved or mumbled hellos. Ms. Faragonda only smiled again instead of reprimanding.

"Follow me, ladies," she told them, gesturing toward the great school doors. She and her vice-headmistress walked to the doors and Ms. Faragonda opened them.

Without even thinking, every fairy followed obediently; some whispering to themselves, others paying attention to the inside of the school as they stepped into it. It was just as beautiful from the inside as it was out. Clearly whomever had taken the time to build it had had a wonderful eye for detail.

They were led to a large room near a grand staircase which must have led to the dorm rooms. The two professors stood, patiently waiting for each girl to take a spot and pause. Once this had been done, the headmistress continued.

"This year," Ms. Faragonda announced. "We have quite a wonderful class. Some of you will fight evil, others will grant wishes, and many are princesses that will take over your realms. Each of you is unique; you all have different sources of power and diverse origins." She paused to adjust her glasses. "But our mission is the same."

When Bloom turned to look at Stella, she noticed that she and the headmistress said the last line at the same time. "To help each of you become the very best you can be." Stella smiled. "She really loves saying that," she pointed out.

"Naturally we expect you to do your best at all times. Alright, now that we're done with the boring stuff, you girls are free to spend the rest of the day exploring if you wish, but remember that there are dangers lurking. Stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower, just in case Ms. Griselda has not already told you that. If you get near them, nothing we could do would be as terrible as what they'd do to you if they caught you near them."\

"All right, orientation is over, girls. Classes start tomorrow morning at eight o'clock sharp. Do not be late."

"Now ladies," Ms. Griselda clapped for attention. "It's time to check into your dormitories and meet your roommates."

"Remember everyone," the headmistress said. "Let's make this a great year. Oh, and of course use every opportunity to connect to your winx."

Stella and Bloom picked their luggage up in the great room, and the Solarian princess too her new friend to the dorm. Thankfully, Princess Varanda was supposed to live in the same dorm as her, so this meant she and Bloom could be around each other all the time. Just how lucky was she! Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

"It sounds like they prepare you for all kinds of stuff," Bloom told Stella as they closed in on their new dorm. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

"Of course!" Stella laughed. "I'm a princess, Bloom. I'm going to rule Solaria one of these days."

"Right." Bloom blushed. "So, what did Ms. Faragonda mean by 'connect to your winx'?"

"It's your source of power," replied Stella simply. "In short, you could just say winx is the Magical Dimension's fairy term for magic."

"That sounds so awesome, especially since I have it."

Finally, they arrived at a door with Stella's name printed fancily on a sign next to it. There was also "Varanda" and three other names that neither of them recognized. Bloom noticed that all their names ended in an A. That was strange, but she wouldn't dare tell any of them that. After all, these girls would be her suitemates for the rest of her high school education. She wouldn't be doing herself any good by accidentally offending one or more of them.

"Our roommates," Stella explained, pointing. "I hope they're better than the ones I got last year." _Especially better than Alexis_, she thought bitterly. Sure, it had been her fault she had gotten expelled, but Alexis had talked her into it, so she deserved part of the blame. It wasn't fair, but past was past. She would just have to hope these new girls would be better.

The two girls walked through a common area and into a room with a nice size bed and a view of the nearby forest.

"This is my room," smiled Stella. "Isn't it nice?"

"This room is so sweet." Bloom looked around momentarily and decided that she should unpack her own things. She walked out of her friend's room and up to a door with a sign that had "Flora" and "Varanda of Vallisto" printed. She gulped. Since she was pretending to be Varanda, this would be her room. Kiko followed behind her, eagerly looking around.

Immediately after opening the door and walking inside, she stepped on something. After taking her foot away, she heard a cry. Looking down, it was revealed to be a plant, only…it was alive, literally, and holding its hurt root. "Ouch," it moaned. "That hurt."

Bloom was taken off guard once again, but she had to remind herself that she was in Gardenia no longer; this was an entirely different realm; a different galaxy. She might as well have quit being surprised.

She apologized. "Wow, I'm sorry." _How does that plant talk? _she wondered.

Her question seemed to be answered as a sweet voice called out, "He's my latest creation." Quickly, another girl her age appeared. She had a medium-tanned complexion, emerald green eyes, and dressed in attire similar to what her family had explained of the 1960s.

"He talks?" Bloom asked, still reeling over this situation.

"He's cute, isn't he?" the girl smiled, opening her eyes more wide to reveal their color more vividly. "My theory is that if more plants could talk, deforestation would be dramatically reduced." While the girl spoke, Stella walked into the room along with Kiko, overhearing their conversation. "It's worth trying; if it just saves one tree." She smiled once more. "Hi, I'm Flora."

Accidentally, Flora knocked her plant over once she'd said her name. "Can't a plant get a break around here?" it complained.

Flora looked down, clearly concerned. Why hadn't she been more careful? _I need to stop being so clueless_, she told herself. "Sorry honey."

While Flora stood, worrying for her plant, Bloom introduced herself…or tried to.

"Anyway." She sighed. "I'm Bloom."

Stella, who had overheard everything since she had stepped into the room, gasped. Bloom had been pretending to be Varanda for what? Forty-five minutes? It'd been only that amount of time and she had _already _forgotten about her cover? She shook her head as she walked over to her friend. This was going to be harder than she thought.

She nudged her red-haired friend, whispering, "Bloom."

"Oh!" She had completely forgotten and tried to cover up her mistake. "What I meant was, Bloom is a name I like a lot but, it's not my name. Actually, my real name is uh…" She quickly had forgotten who she was pretending to be, so she walked backwards, reading aloud the sign by her door. "Varanda of Vallisto. Yep, that's me." She continued walking backwards, forgetting what she was doing.

A voice from behind her cut off her action. She turned around to see a girl who must've been one of her suitemates also since she carried a suitcase. She spoke to her, in an asking way, and also in an informative way.

"Vallisto? Forth world of the Magical Dimension's upper ring? They're very renowned for their rich artistic traditions and highly popular with tourists."

Bloom noticed she spoke with an accent, which struck her as odd, but, then again, it also should've seemed odd to her that people-fairies, even-from entirely different worlds spoke the same language as she did.

"Right!" Bloom agreed hesitantly as she took a good look at her new roommate. She had short, pink hair, teal eyes, and dressed in purple and green. Her valise seemed to continue this pattern. "That's where I'm from."

The new girl smiled at her. "Cool. My name's Tecna."

"Hi Tecna," Stella smiled as she and Flora walked up to her, "I'm Stella." Stella knew for sure that this new girl must've already known who she was for she recognized Tecna as one of the girls who had been standing just a few steps away from Bloom and she at orientation, yet she introduced herself anyway. It was common practice on Solaria to state your name to every new person you met, whether you recognized them or not. "Nice to meet you."

Stella was right. Tecna did recognize her, and instantly.

Tecna sighed at sight of the princess of Solaria and pondered. She seemed like your average girl, and Tecna herself knew a few princesses(was related to one, even), yet there was something different about Princess Stella, but not in a negative way. She shrugged. Since she would be in her dorm, this would give her plenty of time to figure out the fairy of the sun and the moon.

The digital fairy of Zenith looked her over and commented, "You are quite infamous."

"That's the word on the street."

All four girls turned around, following the sound of the voice. Their eyes all fell on a new face, who surely must've been another roommate. She was an Asian girl dressed in baggy blue jeans, a red shoulder top, had a backpack which must've carried her things, and her royal blue hair was styled in short pigtails. She seemed friendly, and quite amused by their current conversation.

The new face spoke once more, and though she did not point any of them out specifically, it was quite clear as to whom she was addressing.

"Yo, if you plan to blow up more stuff, let us know ahead so we can bounce."

Instantly, Flora, Bloom, and Tecna burst into small fits of laughter while Stella pouted. The last thing she wanted to be brought up was the _accident_. Was it really that important that people would never leave her alone on the subject?

"It was in the name of fashion," Stella tried to explain. "I don't regret it. Besides, it was an accident." She repeated from earlier.

"Anyway," the new girl continued, still chuckling herself as she walked inside. "I'm Musa, and it's nice to meet all of you guys."

"Hi Musa," Flora smiled. "I'm Flora, that's Tecna." Tecna waved, smiling. "And that's Varanda." She finished, pointing at Bloom.

"So, Stella, mind if I ask you a question?" Musa asked her.

Stella shrugged. "Go ahead. People have brought this subject up a lot today already, so at this point, I don't care anymore."

"Good. So, how did you manage to get back in after you were expelled?" The musical fairy decided not to beat around the bush. She desperately wanted to know the answer to this question.

Stella turned bright red. She was a blunt one, wasn't she? Well, if she would put it that way, she decided to have some fun with this. "Well, the truth is that they couldn't do without someone as gorgeous as me."

Musa let another laugh. "So, Tecna, I noticed on my way to this room that we're staying in the same one. Care to check it out with me?"

"Definitely," smiled Tecna as she waved to the rest of the girls.

The two girls walked off on their own and Stella decided that she would go and sit in her room for a little while. Just when everyone else had left, a short cry came from Bloom and Flora's room. They instantly went to go see what had happened.

Flora arrived first, and saw her plant holding a bunny upside down that might have been her new roommate's. "Bad plant!" she scolded. "Put him down right now!"

"It's okay," the red haired, 'Varanda' said as she went down to rescue her pet. "It's not the plant's fault. I'm betting that Kiko tried to eat it. He likes his veggies."

Catching on, the timid fairy of flowers picked up a pot she had set on a nearby table along with some magic seeds she had brought back from home. "Hungry little bunny? Here." She poured some seeds and as soon as they touched the soil inside, large, orange carrots grew. "They're organic."

Bloom took a carrot out and gave one to her pet, making him incredibly happy. "Thanks Flora."

"No problem Varanda," the other girl replied.

The fake name seemed odd to hear, but she had to remind herself that if she didn't use it, she wouldn't be here in the first place. But, it wasn't that strange for her to worry in the slightest.

* * *

Tecna and Musa arrived in the room they knew they would be sharing and took looks around. They both found it pleasant by the change in wall colors. Yes, they both liked pink(after all, that was Tecna's hair color), but sometimes, it got old for everything to be the same.

"Wow, this place is nice," Musa said as the two of them settled inside. "What do you think of the color?"

"I like it." Tecna set her suitcase down and sighed happily. "After all, blue happens to be my favorite color."

"So, which bed do you want to stay at? The one by the door, or by the cabinet?" the music fairy asked. She didn't care where she slept as long as she got a bed. After what she had gone through to be here in the first place, just getting a room was relieving. "I don't care, so the choice is yours."

"I'll take over here," responded Tecna as she set her bag on the bed closest to the door. "It feels so good to be here. What do you think Musa?"

"I have to agree. My dad was nearly one-hundred percent against me going here. In fact, the only reason I _can _go here is because I told him about how known it is for it's magic training and all that. So, I have to keep my grades up or I'm dead."

"He sounds rather similar to my own parents." **(2)**Tecna grinned as she sat down on her new bed. "They didn't want me coming, either, but my aunt and uncle insisted that it was best. I think the only reason they agreed was because my brother has still got this year and next year left at Red Fountain."

"What's he like?" Musa asked as she reclined on her bed and opened up a magazine.

"Nothing like me." The pink-haired girl took a moment to giggle before continuing. "The only resemblance we have is our hair and eye colors. That's about it. He only goes there because he caused some trouble at his old high school, got expelled, and transferred to Red Fountain."

"Well, it couldn't be that bad or we would've never met."

"Yah," agreed Tecna, "but I would never tell him that! Or else he'd go, 'See Tec, you do need me in your life'. Or, you know, something like that. Do you have siblings, Musa?"

She shook her head. "No, it's just me and my dad. I lost my mom when I was little, so I never really got to have a brother or sister."

Tecna frowned sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry. That's to bad."

"It cool," her new friend insisted. "This has done nothing but make me the person I am today, so I'm fine."

Their conversation was interrupted when the door opened and Stella stepped inside with Flora.

"Hey guys," Flora announced, "Stella suggested we go out to Magix for a pizza. Want to join us?"

"For sure," the musical fairy agreed, standing.

"I'm in," Tecna added.

While the others gathered, Bloom got a strange feeling that something, something bad was going to happen. She worried for a moment, and then shrugged it off. She was being silly, right? What could happen?**(3)**

* * *

The five girls found themselves in the city of Magix after a short bus ride. The buses and hover cars to Bloom were very much like that of home's, only they were more technologically advanced. Actually, everything was that way. It was so familiar that when she first stepped foot in town, she felt like she was in New York or another big city.

Stella found it difficult to keep her friend from wandering off all over town, admiring the littlest thing.

After all, the girls had settled at a small café. They ordered a large extra cheese pizza for themselves courtesy of Stella and ate outside. Their topics often varied on whomever was speaking. Musa liked to talk about her favorite bands; Tecna her shows or old friends; Flora, just about anything; and of course fashion and boys for Stella.

While the rest of the girls engaged in a conversation, Bloom watched them all. They had only known each other for a day, yet they behaved as if they had been best friends for several years. This, to her, was a sign that that may just come to be. She hoped so. It would help to have a close circle of friends with her as she studied and trained her powers in this strange new world.

Then, she remembered one of the things she had said to her mother earlier. She found herself thinking about to the conversation to the two of them had had back in her room just that morning.

"_I hope I can go," she had said as she finished packing everything up and closed her suitcase. "I hope you let me."_

"_I hope you can go, too," Vanessa responded happily. "But don't forget to call us every night. That's my only condition."_

"_Of course," Bloom said immediately, but then realized what her mother had implied. Her eyes lit up. "Wait, does that mean that I can go?"_

_Her mother nodded. "Well, I say you can. We just need to convince your father, but otherwise, yes Bloom. I always knew you were special, and to see more proof than ever tells me that I'm doing the right thing letting you go. It'll be good for you, and you'll meet lots of new people and make new friends."_

"_Thanks Mom." Bloom hugged her. "I'll miss you."_

"_I'll miss you, too." Vanessa nearly started tearing up but tried to stay strong, if only fort he sake of her adoptive daughter. "I love you, and remember Bloom. Every night."_

"_I will," her daughter assured her. "Now let's go tell Dad."_

So, to keep her promise, the blue-eyed girl pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and opened it up. After quickly switching it on, she was amazed to see that it got no signal whatsoever.

Tecna, who was sitting next to her, noticed she was in a dilemma. "Anything the matter?" she inquired, turning to her fellow fairy.

"My cell phone's not working for some reason," Bloom answered. "It's not getting a signal or anything."

"Let me see it." Tecna took the phone and after taking one look, she knew instantly what was going on. She handed it back to the other girl and smiled. "Well, it seems to be that the problem is your phone is, well…behind most."

Bloom was shocked. What did she mean, _behind_? "But," she objected, "it's the newest phone."

"For Earth," Stella whispered in her ear, and then she understood.

Tecna, who had come here a couple years before with her family to see her older brother off, knew where a phone was. "It's just a block or two away," she told her. "You can use my card." She pulled it out of her pocket and held it out.

"Thanks." Bloom took and it walked off, admiring everything as she continued.

"She certainly is a little different," Musa said once she'd walked away. "But, I guess it's just because she's been sheltered." Musa had been referring to earlier when Flora had asked if she had ever left her kingdom, and she had replied no, implying that she had been more sheltered.

"Don't worry." Stella smiled at her new friends. "She'll catch on. I mean, that's what we're here for, right?"

"True," they all agreed in unison. After a moment, they looked at each other in alarm and broke up into laughter.

* * *

Bloom, after quickly figuring out how to work the phone, she dialed her family's home number. After a short ring, her mother's voice was heard from the other line. "_Hello?_" Vanessa asked. "_Honey?_"

"Hey Mom. Everything is so great. I've made new friends and am learning more about magic, and classes don't even start until tomorrow!"

"_Oh, that's great news, honey. I knew you would have a good time._"

"Thanks again for letting me come," Bloom said. She turned around and gasped in horror when she saw the yellow ogre from the previous day walking through the town. What was he doing here? "I have to go now, Mom. Bye."

Before her mother could say goodbye herself, Bloom had rushed off the line and hurried after him.

Bloom followed him for moment, ducking trashcans and whatnot whenever he happened to turn around. She couldn't risk getting seen. Not now. She kept going until she had been led into a dark alley. She hid behind trashcans and watched as three figures appeared from the shadows.

They were girls like her, she could tell, but older and more Goth-styled. Bloom assumed that since they didn't dress in bright colors like all the girls she had seen at Alfea wearing that they must be witches from Cloud Tower. But, what were they doing here, and why were they meeting with an ogre? That was what she was determined to find out.

Struggling to listen to their conversations, she gathered that apparently the ogre's name was Knut and he and the witches were after Stella's ring of Solaria, yet nothing they said gave any indication why.

She was so caught up in trying to eavesdrop that it caught her totally off guard when one of the witches appeared directly behind her. Using her powers, she knocked Bloom directly to the ground.

"Look what I found girls," the witch who had knocked her down, announced. She wore purple, one blue, and the third, red.

When Bloom looked up, the blue-dressed witch was speaking to her. "Well, hello."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Who are we?" She seemed like she was foolish for not knowing. "We are witches from Cloud Tower." Well, at least Bloom wasn't completely ignorant.

"And," the purple-wearing witch added, "we're seniors. No one messes with senior witches."

Bloom, being new to magic, tried to use some of her powers to scare them off, only to be frozen by the blue-dressed witch. Encased in ice, all she could do was hope that someone would come to rescue her.

"Tell us where Stella is," the lead witch commanded, scratching lightly on the ice.

"I'm right here!" Stella's voice called out. She and the others had wondered what had taken her so long to come back, so they looked and ended up tracing her back to this very alley. "Let her go, now!"

"Yah right," the first witch snorted. It seemed that she did all the talking. She called out to her ogre. "Knut, time for you too step up and crush those losers!"

To Stella, she had seen it coming, but for the others, it was surprising, yet for all of them it was equally frightening when Knut growled and began to chase after them. They gasped aloud and tried to run away when he nearly collided with all of them.

"Now girls!" Stella called out, signaling them to transform.

Following her order, each girl called upon their powers and changed into their fairy forms. Once this had happened, they all took battle stances.

Tecna was the first to react and called out her attack. "Digital web!" she yelled, and with her technological powers, she sealed Knut into a sphere of green digital energy. He appeared alarmed for he found no way out.

Next to go was Musa. "Subwoofer blast!" Her attack did just what she instructed; it created loud, magically power blast of a beat from speakers, breaking Tecna's sphere but still startling the ogre.

They seemed to be taking turns as the nature fairy went next. "Ivy rope." She blew a golden, pollen-like substance that at first glance seemed harmless, yet as soon as it touched the ground, it grew into fierce, large vines and tied up the ogre which sent him flying to the other end of the alley.

The witches seemed like their ogre was disgracing them as they shook their heads and Stella noticed one covering her face, as if to say, "What an idiot".

The head of the witches turned to face them, angrily. "Alright, little fairies, you're history!" As she let out her cape, fierce blocks of dangerous ice came out.

"Get behind me, quick," Tecna commanded. "Firewall." A green shield appeared, protecting them, but only for a short moment for the witch was too strong and sent them all to the ground.

The third witch, one of storms they quickly figured out, knocked them out even more by one of her own attacks of lighting.

All the girls were weak, yet Stella had just enough energy to save them. She stood and got her ring. "Sun power!" she shouted, and turned it into a scepter. "Get us out of here!" She had done this just in time, too, for it had she had not, they would've gotten taken out by a strong and fierce attack of the witch of ice.

The girls, in a quick flash, appeared in a street in Magix. Bloom, who had been rescued from the ice, was shivering. Stella instantly thought on that and went to go help her out. The others watched closely.

"It's okay," the princess said, warming her. "You could've survived at least another fifteen minutes in that ice. You know, considering you're from Earth and all, you did outstandingly, splendidly Bloom! You were so brave!"

Sadly, Stella had not been thinking about what she said and ended up completely blowing her cover in front of the other girls.

"Stella!" They shouted.

Stella groaned. She had forgotten they were standing behind her.

"Why did you just call her Bloom and say that she's from planet Earth?" Flora demanded as she got in her friends face. She needed an answer.

"Oh uh, right! There might be some tiny minor details we need to fill you in on. Look, I'll give you the whole scoop on our way back to Alfea."

Satisfied, the girls held back their glares at Bloom laughed.

* * *

"I'm sorry for lying to you guys," Bloom sighed as she and the rest of the girls headed back to Alfea. They knew that it must have been very late and they surely had broken curfew, but if they got lucky, nobody would notice. "And I think I want to tell Ms. Faragonda the truth."

"We'll talk about it later," Stella told her. "For now, let's just go to bed."

That got spoiled, however, when Ms. Faragonda and Griselda seemed to appear out of nowhere, clearly worried for them.

"Where have you girls been?" Ms. Griselda demanded. "Do you know what time it is? We've worried about you."

"Go to bed, girls," the headmistress demanded. "For now, just go to bed. Make sure that this does not happen again."

They tried to leave, but paused when the head of discipline told Bloom to stop. "What did you want to tell Ms. Faragonda?" she asked, giving away that she had heard her words.

"Well, I'm not Varanda and I'm not from Vallisto," she managed to say. "I'm actually from Earth."

"Earth?" Both professors gasped.

Bloom nodded. "Look, I'm really sorry for lying to you guys and I hope I can stay. This is an amazing place with amazing people and I'm sure that I can learn so much if you just give me a chance."

The girls smiled when she mentioned the "amazing people". It was clear that she had been talking about them.

"Well, you must be punished." Ms. Griselda insisted.

"Wait." Ms. Faragonda stopped her. "I think it took a lot of courage for her to speak up, so I suggest that we give her a chance. She can stay and take Princess Varanda's spot. Now go to bed." Hastily, she added, "And please try to be good."

"Yes ma'am," they all said in synch as they saluted. After that, they cheered before finally heading back to their dorm.

As they went to bed, each girl knew on the inside that this school year would most definitely would be a year unlike any other.

* * *

**(1): **_Anyone else every think that? I always thought it was hilarious. Oh, 4kids and your lines that are so bad yet I love them all at the same time._

**(2): **_Hope you don't mind, but since the show itself never gave us anything on Tecna's family history, I made one up myself._

**(3): **_This, I think, is also a good question for you, the reader. Since, I'm the one writing, I guess now I'm the one who knows, but don't worry, I won't change **to **much...maybe._

_Alright, here's the next chatper. Thank you to my reviewers. I love you guys. _

_Next chapter: "Save the First Dance"_


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